In Depth

There is arguably no American actor more admired than Robert De Niro, who creates unforgettable characters such as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, Paul Vitti in Analyze This and Jonathan Flynn in BEING FLYNN.

Nick Flynn’s personal story about his father, poetically expressed in his memoir, first captured the imagination of director Paul Weitz, then won the hearts of the film’s cast (including Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore, and Paul Dano).

Even before he asked us “Are you talkin’ to me?”, film fans were talking about Robert De Niro, and marveling at his uncanny ability to create surprisingly original characters. With BEING FLYNN, De Niro’s Jonathan Flynn echoes many of his greatest roles, many of which we revisit in a special tribute slideshow.

While director Paul Weitz had a far different youth than writer Nick Flynn, he nevertheless found deep emotional connections to Nick’s story. It was this affinity that compelled the filmmaker to bring Nick Flynn’s story to the screen, but make it a personal film as well.

Paul Weitz’s BEING FLYNN, as the title hints, is drawn from the real-life experiences of writer Nick Flynn. Personal histories often serve as the source material for amazingly rich, emotionally complex and sometimes complicated films, as our editorial slideshow of movie memoirs demonstrates.

To capture life on the street, the costume and production designers worked hard to meld the reality of urban life with the particular details of each character. Indeed some extras found being on set almost like being back on the street.

Nick Flynn, the author of the memoir behind Paul Weitz’ BEING FLYNN, recounts the process of how he came to write the book, and how the process of getting to know his dad changed his relationship with him.